4 Home Improvement Jobs You Should Always Hire Out

Posted on April 19th, 2017. Original content from Zillow's Real Estate Blog.

Sit back, relax, and let the pros take care of the tough jobs, says Christina El Moussa of HGTV's 'Flip or Flop.'

Whether you’re flipping a house or renovating your current home, hiring private contractors is nearly unavoidable. If you’ve seen “Flip or Flop,” you know Tarek and I can’t do everything ourselves. We’ve built relationships with contractors we trust, and they do most of the heavy lifting.

If you’re new to the flipping game, though, chances are you haven’t built these relationships yet. Maybe you think you don’t need to hire anyone else because it’s too expensive, and you want to keep your costs down. You’re not wrong — hiring out can be expensive. It will, however, save you time and many headaches.

When you renovate a house, consider hiring out the four jobs listed below.

Roofing

If you need a new roof, always hire someone else. Doing it yourself takes a very long time — and losing time is like losing money. When flipping a house, you want to finish it fast so you can sell. Spending unnecessary time on a project like roofing means you’re further away from selling and making a profit.

Plus, if you’ve never installed a roof before, you will almost certainly make a costly mistake. Leave roofing to the professionals. They’ll get it done quickly and let you focus your attention on something more pressing.

Plumbing

Replacing pipes can be a lengthy process, and if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could make an irreparable error. And while a plumbing mistake may not be immediately visible, it will almost certainly come back to bite you. Why leave it up to chance?

Hire someone who does this stuff for a living. They will do the job correctly, and save you from any hidden expenses that might have occurred had you tried to do it yourself. Cutting corners does not equal cutting costs.

Structural improvements

Houses with open floor plans are very hot right now. As a flipper, you may want to capitalize on this trend because buyers will love it. However, if you are flipping an older house, you’ll most likely need to knock down some walls to achieve an open floor plan.

It probably goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: You can’t just knock down a wall. Some walls are load-bearing, meaning they play a big part in holding the house up. Knocking down a load-bearing wall will compromise the structural integrity of the house.

Hire a professional to go through the house and tell you what you can (or can’t) remove. Knocking down walls is a lot of fun, but make sure a professional approves it first.

Anything you feel uncomfortable doing

If you feel uncomfortable doing a certain rehab project, hire someone to do it. If you feel unsure but go through with the project anyway, chances are you will do a poor job. When flipping a house, it’s important for everything to go as smoothly as possible.

There will always be hidden costs and projects. Focus on what you can control, and if you feel like someone else would do a better job, consider hiring out.